Cold impacting farmers

posted by WTVN Newsroom
-
2 years ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTVN) -- These cold temperatures aren't just impacting people, but animals too. Farmers have to pay extra attention to their livestock when temperatures drop to sub-zero levels.

"The big chore there is to make sure they have plenty of feed, because they do need extra feed to make sure they stay warm and then you have to make sure the water stays thawed," said Joe Cornely with the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.

He says most animals are able to deal with the cold by growing thicker coats and packing on extra fat in the winter. They also tend to huddle together to share body heat. However, they do need shelter from the wind.

"A grove of trees will be a good wind break. In some cases, especially with smaller animals, farmers will have little shelter houses," he said.

Farmers also have to deal with maintaining equipment in the cold.

It's not just livestock farmers that have to deal with the cold. Ohio has a lot of winter wheat which is planted in the fall and then ripens in the spring.

"When you get this really cold weather it can damage that wheat crop unless it has got a good cover of snow. Snow will tend to insulate the crop," Cornely said.

Fruit trees, like apple and peach, are also a concern in sub-zero temperatures.

The good news is that while the immediate prices of commodities like corn and pork are going up, it likely won't show up at the grocery store.

"We would need to see some type of very widespread and longer range concerns as far as damage. We haven't seen that yet," he said.